Exploring folklore and storytelling in Magpie Girl

Folklore has long played an important role in children’s literature, helping young readers explore culture, symbolism and the power of storytelling.

In this blog post, Rowan Foxwood shares the inspiration behind the folklore and magic in Magpie Girl, explaining how researching regional myths and oral storytelling traditions helped shape the world of the book. This insight makes the post particularly useful for teachers exploring myths and legends, cultural storytelling, or creative writing, and for supporting classroom discussions about how stories reflect the places and cultures they come from.

When I first finished Heartseer: The Tale of Anise Star, I couldn’t get the magpie-children out of my head. What happened to them, when they got home? What was it like, to go from an extraordinary world of magic back to their perfectly normal lives? Could anything ever be “normal” again? Somehow, I didn’t think so.

Lavender took the reins of this adventure very quickly. With our shared wanderlust, she was the perfect character to dive into a new, unexplored part of the Heartseer world.

Vineland is very “Mediterranean” inspired, both physically and culturally. The magical creatures and stories of Lavender’s home in “Redvine” are particularly drawn from the lesser-known folklore of my native France and Corsica. For those interested in where some of the magic in Magpie Girl came from, here are some details!

The Firebird: This fiendish creature was inspired by several different myths and folklore. Physically, he resembles a phoenix, but he also shares a name with the Slavic “Zharptitsa”, a flaming bird with “golden” feathers. The greatest inspiration for the Firebird, however, came from the French “Peteu”, also known as the “Bête Famarine” (The Famarine Beast Bird). According to legend, this enormous bird once terrorized the town of Vergisson, and was able to carry off sheep and cattle! It had wingbeats like thunder, and its cry alone could cause earthquakes. When hunters were finally able to shoot it down however, they discovered that while the bird looked huge, beneath its feathers, its body was actually tiny! “Peteu” is supposedly a regional name for the “kinglet”, one of Europe’s smallest birds. In England, “kinglets” were once called “gold-crested wrens”, which is why my Peteu-inspired antagonist began life as a wren named Kingly!

The Firebird also draws on elements of three other stories. The first is the folktale of the “King of the Birds”. It says that all the birds once held a competition to see who could fly the highest – whoever succeeded would be crowned king. While many tried, the eagle gained the upper hand, soaring above the rest. However, at the very last moment, a tiny kinglet (or wren, depending on the version) emerged from where he’d been hiding in the eagle’s feathers, and flew up above him, thus claiming the crown.

I combined the idea of a tiny bird flying very high with two Greek myths: the story of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and lost his feathers, and the tale of Prometheus, who was chained to a mountain for defying the gods and gifting fire to humans. The “Wishbird” becomes the Firebird only after flying too close to the sun, in a foolhardy quest to extend the summer.

The Maiden of the Well: Water goddesses with healing powers can be found across the world. The Celtic tribes in Europe alone had many, including Sulis, Sirona and Condatis. There are also dozens of stories of faeries, maidens and priestesses with similar powers who lived in or guarded rivers and wells. I decided to create my own version with the Maiden.

The Phantom Tears: This terrifying daemon, which Kit and Lavender encounter outside the Pass of the Dead, was inspired by the Lagramenti, a malicious faerie-mist from Corsican folklore. Rolling down from the mountains, the Lagramenti mist is said to be filled with packs of vicious hounds and monsters who attack unsuspecting travellers. While the idea of things “hiding in the mist” is scary, I’ve always thought that mists themselves are quite eerie in the way they creep and settle over you. So, for the Phantom Tears, I decided to create a daemon that was the mist – a sinister, silent and sorrowful creature.

The Sentinels: Also drawing from Corsican folklore, the Sentinels (and the Spirit Hunters) were inspired by the Paladini of Filitosa (The Warriors of Filitosa). These are tall, ancient standing stones or menhir, carved to look like warriors. Some people believe they were made as protective guardians, which inspired me for the book!

Asphodel Lanterns: In Corsican folklore, the asphodel flower supposedly marks the path between the human world and the world of magic. I liked this idea so much that I incorporated it into Magpie Girl with the “Asphodel Lanterns”, which grow along the Pass of the Dead and light up when the path opens and the Daemons and Deities arrive for the festival. There are lots of other stories and myths woven throughout, and many more which inspired the general feel of the book.

I hope to be able to visit Redvine again with you all and explore even more of the magic and wonder here. In the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a bit about the folklore that inspired Magpie Girl: The Tale of Lavender Wild.

To support classroom learning, we’ve also developed a downloadable creative writing activity that guides pupils through creating their own folklore-inspired story. Ideal for lessons on myths and legends, setting and inspiration.